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A trading veteran who ran the European credit business at James Caird Asset Management, a spin-out from Louis Bacon's Moore Capital, is negotiating his exit after nine months at the firm.

Iftikhar Ali, who joined James Caird in June from Bank of America, is in discussions to leave the hedge fund firm, according to two people with knowledge of the situation. They both said that he is not the only individual to be doing so. At least one credit trader is understood to also be in talks to leave, they said.

Ali joined Bank of America's investment-grade debt business in 2004 as head of credit arbitrage trading for Europe and Asia. He joined from Citigroup, where he was head of credit default swap trading. That year Bank America hired over 50 bankers from its rivals to strengthen its European debt business.

James Caird was spun out of Louis Bacon's Moore Capital in 2008 by Tim Leslie, one of Moore Capital's best-known traders. He spun out the Moore Credit Fund, taking with him about 30 people for what was one of the largest launches of the year.

At the time Moore Capital took a stake in the new business, and the two firms share offices in the same Mayfair building.

James Caird's $2.4bn (€1.8bn) JCAM Global Fund, which trades credit and equities, was up over 22% last year. The fund has a track record dating back to 31 December, 2003, and it has returned 11.3% in that period on an annualised basis, according to investors.

James Caird, which is named after the lifeboat Ernest Shackleton used after an Antarctic expedition failed, employs 65 people across its London and New York offices, including 33 on its investment team.

Ali could not be reached for comment. James Caird declined to comment.